Brothers day - last push

So as those that follow us in Twitter probably know already, Brothers day is nearly finished now. As ever, we depend on the time people can dedicate us in between paid projects, so we cannot give a date yet, but we hope we'll be able to show the film in some way this year.

Making a film is a lot of work on a lot of different fronts, here's a brief summary of the progress at the moment:

Done since the last update:
- Edit: we locked the edit soon after that. Done and dusted, yes!
- Digital corrections: reframing some shots, stabilizing others, duplicating extras (what!? :), making day into night and a bit of everything else. The magic and time-consuming joys of digital post-production. It took a lot of work, but sure makes the film a lot better.
- Music tracks: such as this recently released track. Remi has now finished the last one of his many contributions to the film. Well done, Remi!
- Titles: we have a fantastic design, can't wait for you guys to see them. We also have a cool poster matching the titles that we'll be sharing publicly shortly.

Working on now:
- Grading: I've been working hard with Luca, the DOP on making the film look as cool as possible. Here's the proof:

- Sound post: Foley, atmospheres and the rest of sound design (those sounds that have to be created or improved) are well under way thanks to the wonderful guys at SSR. So is dialogue editing (making them sound as good as possible!).

- Additional score: all the incidental music for all the other parts of the film that need it.

Left to do:
- ADR: we have some ADR to schedule. This is those bits of sounds that have to be re-recorded because -for whatever reason- they weren't clear enough.
- Final mix (putting all the sounds, music and dialogues together!)

So that's it for now, you know exactly where we are now. You can follow the more frequent updates in Twitter and Facebook, if you so wish!

Brothers day - The long edit

"Where are you with the editing for Brothers day?" -some people keep asking me. Not surprisingly, since it's been about a year since we released the trailer for (if you haven’t seen it, you can do here). So I thought I'd give a quick update on what’s happening.

So why so slow!?

The reason things take so long, as some of you know already, is still the same as explained then. Everyone working in this film is taking time out of their daily busy lives and not getting paid for it, and there's a limit to the speed we can pick up with this system. That means we still need some more patience from all of you lovely people who are waiting to see it.

So where are we specifically?

Although we've had a number of other assistant editors helping along the way, so far the bulk of the cutting has been done by editor Terence Johnson and yours truly. That is, 1) an assembly edit we have already left way behind, and -what we're currently working on and hope to have finished by the end of this month- 2) the rough cut. A big and important step for the film, but one that, sadly, we'll not be able to share with the world.

The rough what?

For those who don't know what all these terms mean, (while the assembly is more of a working guide of what happens and when), the rough cut is cut of the film that already contains all the scenes that will be in the film, plus a choice of shots, plus temporary sound and music tracks. It still requires a lot of trimming and polishing, and it’s usually longer than the finished film will be, but it is at this point a lot closer and, if the job is done right, it should “feel” like it. Digital effects and fixes need to be added still, and audio treated so that it sounds great, and of course actual sound design and music done too. We do have some music tracks actually, like the one of Remi’s we used for the trailer, but still need a lot more done. I can’t wait to fully get into all this but hey, step by step.

So there you go, things are happening at a slow, yet steady pace, and we are hoping for a 2014 release. Thanks so much everyone who is waiting for this, you're all so incredibly nice people :)

Oh, for those who don't know, we publish behind-the-scenes pictures in Facebook every week, plus an occasional update like this. Head over there and like it/subscribe if you want to stay in the loop!

 

Surviving Alba promo!

These last few months, we've been busy building a set for our 'Surviving Alba' promotional teaser. Finally, we got to film some amazing-looking footage last week, through a very long yet exciting weekend. Thanks so much to cast and crew for such a fantastic work!!!

Building stuff

Busy times! And another interesting day today transforming industrial waste into sci-fi epicness.

Nothing else to say right now, except the madness is linked to our next feature. More info to come...

Brothers day: the trailer step

Low-budget indie film making can take forever. Even longer sometimes, for it is done on and off, with cast and crew doing their best to take time from paid projects and general life. So it's great to finally be able to share the trailer of one such films today: BROTHERS DAY, a feature shot over the course of last year  in Manchester, directed by yours truly:

 

BIG THANKS must go to the army of people who collaborated in it: CSV and a collective of dedicated volunteers without whom no filming would have been possible. I hope to bring the finished movie to you all as soon as possible.

In the mean time, hope you enjoy the trailer!

Official Facebook group:

https://www.facebook.com/brothersdayfilm

 ("Like" it, come on :)

New Brothers day artwork

That's right, "Brothers day" has a new face, displaying from today in the official Facebook page. Hope you guys like it!

Trailer is finally coming too. We are aiming at May, so just a few weeks' wait. Finally!

Reaction

After months working on it, I am struggling to stay focus on the script of my next feature film at the moment. Which is why I thought it would be a great moment to share the link to my last science fiction short film, REACTION. That's right. Hope you enjoy it!



For those speaking Spanish, there is also version with Spanish subtitles. For those speaking other languages, well, good for you. And your CV. Probably. If you do understand English but still enjoy subtitles, click on this one.

Actually -if not anything else- the short it is a good, representative example of what I attempt to achieve in terms of genre and style with the next film. So not completely unrelated.

Writing is procrastinating.

Rise of the planet of the apes

Effects + Heart = Movie goodness. Yes, please.


It's exciting to see the fruits of the latest technology applied to movies. In this case, Avatar's big push in motion capture technology, with which the actors can capture body and face performance, allows the "Planet of the Apes" sequel to exist.

The danger is to learn to use this new technology integrated in the storytelling process. Looking at the trailer, it looked a bit like the tragic "I, robot", with Apes replacing the hordes of robots. Except for a couple of images, which encouraged me to go see it, and eventually enjoy it enormously.

The greatest archievement is to me that you root for the main character, a bloody monkey, to the point that you side with him against humans (the little bastards). Apes are in the movie more human than humans, just as in other good stories has happened with robots (Wall-e, Johnny 5), monsters (Hulk, King kong) or aliens (E.T. or this guy). Easy. By doing this rather than trying to trick the audience, the achieve effects that enhance the story instead of replacing it (films like "Hellboy 2", "Clash of the Titans"* or the "Transformers" eternal sequels spring to mind now), and that's why, I believe, certain sequences, which would have otherwise been just a way how showing off much money the movie had, work so well and so honestly. I personally loved the helicopter moment, you'll now when you see it :)

Click HERE if you want to see a special-effects-featurette.

Don't click on it if you don't, that would be silly.

Sure the writers took to some licenses in the story, but the final result is good enough as to want to ignore those bits. Only the feeling that the story wasn't going as far as it could have stopped me from loudly cheering at the end. It seems it was thought up as a trilogy. Well, ok they earned that. As long as we don't go back to battles of giant robots destroying cities for cosmical reasons.

Bring it on.

* Niceties aside, "Clash of the Titans" is still the worst movie in modern times in my book. Its sequel, now on the making, means a step back in human evolution and will probably end up destroying the world at least twice.

What's been happening

So I thought I'd take the time to give a bit of an update on what I've been doing in the last few months (that feel like years!!).

End of last year, I was lucky enough to have a job as an extra (background artist :) in the Captain America movie (!!!!!!). If you want to try and see me :P (I'm one of the blurry dockers in the background) I'm in the official trailer, min 1:36 :) Although it may sound very unimpressive to some, for me it was an incredible experience that felt much too-short, and it leaves me out of breath simply to talk about it. Only Google :) can be more exciting than working in a Hollywood movie + seeing one of the characters I've been reading comics about all my life (Captain America in this case) in the flesh + getting paid for it. Incredible.

Then somehow I ended up directing my first feature film, a drama set in Manchester titled BROTHERS DAY. I'd like to blame my insistence in getting in as much trouble as possible for it, but maybe it was just sheer luck. In any case, it was a lot of fun and hard work. Luckily a strong cast and crew came together in the end and we managed to both pull it off and live through the experience! I did have to put other projects on hold, but it was all worth it. I especially enjoyed working on a feature script which wasn't my own, and working with 2 fantastic writers to make the necessary changes to the story to be able to film it with the given constraints. I just finished filming it, still need to edit it all together and such, but the footage is all in the can (well, all but a couple of days). Sadly, there is very little I can show -well, other than pictures of the shoots-, but I'm working on a trailer and I can't wait to show everybody once it's finished! :)

As if it wasn't enough, I got involved in a movie-to-be called TRAVELER ZERO, a time-travel story... based on real events! :) I only got to do some visual effects and grading for it, but it was particularly thrilling to me because the project is America-based. It's currently been pitched in L.A. to producers with important-sounding names :) and hopefully the whole movie will get to be filmed. You can see the full short film promo below.

At the comic-book side of things, my brother and I have recently re-launched the webseries CALACHURRAS. We are excited to get back to work on this after a bit of a break to give the whole thing all the color that rightfully deserved, and can't wait for you people to read the whole story and tell us what you think.

Last but hardly least, I also went to CANNES this year, for the first time. Cannes is not only a film festival, but a way of seeing the film industry from a more practical angle, and an opportunity to meet a lot of like-minded people and move projects forward. It was a fantastic and necessary experience that I recommend to all my filmmaking friends. It is both fun and a lot of work, and absolutely worth it.

And this is all for now in what's been the most exciting months of my life. A lot of exciting things seems to be happening in the near future too, but I shall talk about them in some other post.

Thanks for reading!

The storytelling masters

Finally! Pixar's is going for "Best Picture" at the next edition of the oscars with "Toy Story 3". Not "Best Animated Picture", which they should already get by default, but the big "Best Picture" award.

And in my always humble although occasionally loud and overexcited opinion, if Pixar wants the Oscar they should be able to just have it. Not only is TS3 the best movie of this year (and one of the best movies of all time), when it comes to making movies, there really is no one else better than Pixar.

The audience has spoken, TS3 is the biggest box office hit of the last months. But of course, this can't be the only reason. It is a long time ago now that Pixar has gone beyond the boundaries of animated movies to find themselves a place between those who can tell stories better than the rest. Better, in fact, than anyone else. Pixar's professional policy to create only the best stories and to care for the audience is worth this award and more. It is not very often that one sees grown-ups laughing out loud, jumping at the edge of their seats and then crying their eyes out in the same movie. That's the emotional journey that we should always get with our ticket, and that sadly we don't. Why? Pixar are those guys who haven't forgotten what a good story well told should be like.

Oh. And trying and compare it with "Inception" is just obscene. There, I said it.

My hardly interesting thoughts on the latest Tron poster

Just saw that yet another Tron "2" poster is out. I thought it might be "interesting" to write my thoughts on it. It obviously wasn't. But here they are anyway.

"There's that hot girl again, sure worth watching 2 hours of film..."

"And that other guy, no idea who he is..."

"Where's that Bridges bloke? Wasn't he gonna be in this as well?"

"Oh, I remember those flying things from the first one. Cool".

"Oh, look. In fucking 3D again. As if it mattered".

"Yeah, she definitely is hot. Good choice".

"The script must be BRILLIANT too. Probably".

:(

The Sleeper Effect

TSE is a sci-fi web series based on a daring concept with its own visual style. It takes place in Manchester in a worryingly close future.

It is not often one gets to get involved in a project that one genuinely loves and that exudes so much passion. Hope that shows in the 4 teasers below (corresponding to the 4 main characters) and hope you love it too.

We will be done filming the pilot in about 1 month time. Then off to editing it together put it out there and look for funding for completing the series. You can follow the progress on the Facebook page, including regular video blogs full of energy and enthusiasm :) There isn't a website yet, but there will be soon.

Beth

Ryhs

Glenn

Mac

Expectations versus Experience

In the words of William Goldman, "nobody knows anything". It's interesting how sometimes you go watch a film expecting brilliance and finding disappointment, or the other way around. You never know. The fact that it may happen at all levels -and with any budget- is to me kind of refreshing, and I just wanted to give a quick example with 3 of the latest films I've seen.

Inception: A film I couldn't wait to see and that most people seem to love for reasons that escape my comprehension. A superb idea brought down by the unnecessarily numerous rules imposed by the writing and the endless explanatory movie-stopping sequences. Dreams where possibility is purely a reflection of physical forces and not human, limitless imagination. A spectacular visual effect-packed feast wasted in a merely passable experience. An experience, however, instantly turned into religious dogma by the touch of Saint Christopher Nolan, the man who made the first realistic superhero movie (apparently, the ones before don't seem to count) and became a god in the process. In short, you expect 9, get just a 5... Oh well.

The A-Team: A film I wasn't so excited about but I HAD to see (it's the A-Team, yey!). You can tell has been done for the fans, crafted with love and respect for the original characters and the TV series. Not perfect at all, but thoroughly enjoyable. See? Expect 4, get at least 8! Lovely.

And of course there's Pixar. As usual, beyond any labels or classifications. You expect 10, you usually get 12. Damn it, Toy Story 3 is a film so brilliant that makes you both laugh out loud and cry your eyes out in less than 2 hours. A story that you experience intensely, caring about the characters and living it all with them. That's what cinema should be all the time! All that despite being a 3rd part. A 3rd! Seriously, who else can make not a great 3rd part, but even an acceptable one?

You can't beat Pixar. That's the moral here, I guess. Or maybe not.

Deadtime full trailer

Again, I am delighted to bring some news on Deadtime, the slasher horror feature film I worked in last year as a Production Manager. Along with a bunch of wonderful -if a little crazy- people.

The complete TRAILER -nearly four minutes of footage packed with love, kindness and feel-good music*- was released last Sunday. And there has been much rejoicing since among the people involved in it. Which of course doesn't mean much, since we can't help being kind of biased.

But then something else happened: people with no involvement in the project whatsoever started saying that it did look good, and actually texted/called/sent carrier pigeons to say so. In short, I couldn't be happier about it and really do hope YOU like it too and feel somehow compelled to go watch it when it hits the theatres! (next year, in principle).

Website here. And an up-to-date full picture of what is happening with it in its Facebook home.

* Very little love in it, actually, but loads of heads "rock'n' roll"-ing, which in a way is much better! (don't let your children see it until they can grow a moustache though, or they may hate you for the rest of your life).

"The bigger monster" ending

As a life comic reader, I'm now living the dream, watching the endless series of comic book adaptations and looking forward to some more. Still, there's one thing I think could definitely be better: the endings! Hollywood-size endings are one thing, the careless elimination of all emotion attached to the film at that point is another completely different!

Hulk 1, Hulk 2, Iron man 1, Iron man 2, Spiderman 3. they all have painfully done the same: after generally taking the plot in a good direction, things start getting interesting and such... and then all you get in the end is... well... a big monster! Or rather, a BIGGER monster, courtesy of yet another meaningless visual effects feast.

A representative example of "The bigger

(and in this case much uglier) monster" film practice.

"So what do we have? Iron man? Hell, let's use a larger-framed armoured guy for the final battle then". "What about the character we have been developing until now?" "Forget it, waste of time".

"Hulk, huh? No problem, we'll just use a slightly more ferocious/dangerous-looking monster for this one. Easy".

"Spiderman?" "What can we do with this interesting Sandman character? Should we add another beat here and there for his relationship with her daughter...?" "Rubbish, let's just have him grow BIG! and "big-punch" Spiderman in the face. That should get people involved in the story".

(Sigh)

Not only comic-based movies do it though. Clash of the Titans presents a delightful example of it, among other things. It doesn't make it right though.

(Deep, bigger sigh)

Deadtime teaser trailer

Just a quick entry about DEADTIME, the horror feature film I was involved in last December.

We have a TEASER TRAILER out now and are all very excited about its horror-packed 80 seconds :) If you like slasher horror films, don't miss this one. If it's not your cup of tea... well, would be nice of you to still watch it, really...

You can join the Facebook group too for regular updates. Come on, you know you want to :)

Heads will rock'n' roll!

Lately

These days, I feel like I'm closer to find my long-sought place in the universe.

...

That's it. That's the best line I have. The rest of the entry is pretty much padding.




Either that or I'm getting seriously affected by my lack of sleep. Seriously, it's all too exciting these days.


Months ago I decided I wanted to get in as much production trouble as I could possibly find, after quite a while off it. This irrational, inexplicable initiative has somehow taken me to be working hard on a couple of two independent feature films now. One of them, we start shooting in just a few days for about 2 weeks So you if you have been wondering what the $·%"& is going on with The Entity!! , you can blame Deadtime (in a nice way though, don't be mean) for generating so much work.

Needless to say, this leaves me very little time to keep up with all the necessary research needed for the feature film script I feel like I've been working on forever now. And of course for...


The Entity!! (yes, again!). Despite everything, I managed to apply for some funding recently. If the project got through the selection process, it would be a great opportunity to get the short film made earlier than I thought next year. If not...well, tough.

Also, I want to thank everybody for bringing more and more people to the Facebook group and spread the word (I'm glad that someone is doing something about the project, shame on me). Especially considering how increasingly hard it is to find your way around in Facebook these days. In any case, the community of fans of The Entity!! keeps growing (307 members now!), which in turn brings hope for the future of humankind. All the names of those who have invited other people or thrown some help at the project are being added to the "Collaborate" section of the website, and of course will be given a credit in the end roll of the film. They will also be loved immensely everywhere they go, for their hearts are pure.


So all good, apart from my lack of sleep, which makes me "go funny" and is meant to get even worse over the next few days.

Oh, and I'm thinking of kidnapping a celebrity. But that's not sure yet, will keep you posted.

Not again

Every now and then, I hear that statement again:

"Animation is for children"


And there I go, trying to explain again that animation is just a way of generating visuals rather than a genre in itself, or a ticket to a specific kind of audience. I'm usually too busy finding the statement unbelievable and going mental with it, though, as to be able to convey the idea convincingly. Or even intelligibly. So I thought I should just give a couple of examples here. If you have that look of "doh" in your face right now (meaning this too is a fundamental truth to you!), you don't need to keep reading. Go and see an animated film or something.


Hanna Montana -to use quite outrageous an example- clearly isn't an animated film, but despite being live-action we can hardly say it's for adults and children alike. The animated film The Incredibles, however, a film that I personally consider one of the best ever made, is NOT for children only. It is appealing to children, of course, but they won't be able to grasp the subtleties of a married couple arguing, or understand how frustration and nonrecognition may lead someone to become a very specific kind of person. They will probably just see a bad guy there.

It's simple: you can shoot actors with a camera, or take pictures, or render frames of computer-generated characters. Or use any other method, existing or to come. It doesn't really mind, they all need an script as badly. And it is this script (the storyline, the dialogue between the characters, the characters themselves, the tone!) that will determine how "adult" the film will eventually be.


I finish with what I think is a relevant video. The moments in one of the episodes of the wonderful excuse-me-not-only-for-children Justice League TV series in which Superman's colleagues react to his sudden death and one of his closest friends gives a speech during the funeral. It's as good and emotive as that of live action films such as the famous Four weddings and a funeral one. And just in case it counts, it may give you "adult" goosebumps too.




And then of course there is Harry bloody Potter. But I rather not go there right now. Maybe some other time.

Blake Snyder's "finale"

"I love writers" - Blake Snyder


Blake Snyder, enthusiastic screen writing guru, loving teacher and practical structure genius, died yesterday.

His seminars and his most popular book "Save the Cat" (and the only one I've read, by the way) are said to have inspired and enlightened both budding writers and established professionals. Personally, I learnt a great deal from his approach and found his words extremely useful: an excellent starting point and a light to follow when lost in the dark corridors of your own writing.


Snyder had a blind faith in writers, and an unnatural respect for an audience that, as we all should know, expects to enjoy the film they go to see. He wasn't as popular as Michael Jackson, however, so media coverage have been somewhat moderate. And so I felt I needed to do my bit by posting something here and updating wikipedia (and sobbing a little when no one was looking...). After all, he was in fact "a lot of people's Michael Jackson", and his work means a lot to quite a few of us.


I feel the best way of explaining who he was is to leave a few relevant lines directly extracted from the messages on his blog after his passing.


"We'll never know how many bad movies he saved us from"

"I am starting production this month on my feature film that wouldn’t be happening if not for Blake’s book"

"This is very sad. Blake was one of the good guys. Shared his knowledge with everyone and anyone. He’d actually email you back if you had a question"

"Blake was a great writing teacher and the first person who really got me to understand structure, but more importantly he was a really nice man and seemed genuinely interested in his students"

"Blake, you saved more than just a cat my friend. I will truly miss you"

"This reminds me that there is no tomorrow. Only today. Make the most of it"


Which takes me to the end of this post. Whatever and however small it may be, let our work on stories be the best ongoing tribute to his life we could possibly offer.

Damn, Blake, I miss you too, and I never even met you.

THE ENTITY!! is coming (and needs YOU :-)

A half-absurd comedy for both the proud geek and the average human being, The Entity!! is the first film daring to face the long-avoided controversial issue that secretly worries us all: will humankind be, one day, enslaved and ruled by transgenic mutant vegetables?

The Entity!!, the short film I'm working on at the moment, has it all. Action and drama, humans and vegetables, comedy and showy, unnecessary visual effects. And of course a clearly evil onion, key figure in this ongoing conspiracy. All except one little thing: its eager, large audience.

Here is where YOU can help! (sure, if you want)

Who, ME??
Yes, YOU!

I want to help, but what could I possibly do? WHAT !?
Good question!

• Option 1, Moral support: Wish that it's a success. Your positive thinking, unlimited supply of hope and various daily prayers will surely help a great deal. If feeling extreme, leave your everyday life, lock yourself up in a faraway monastery and initiate a new existence of meditation and meager meals.

• Option 2, Word of mouth: You know how much of a technology geek I am: the Internet IS brilliant, but combined with YOUR support and help is even more powerful. So if you like the idea, PLEASE JOIN THE FACEBOOK GROUP (costs nothing, but it'll help a lot! :-) and/or a fan of the Facebook page. Tell someone. Tell everyone! Your family, friends, neighbours... Your dog! Put up copies of the poster at your workplace. Name your firstborn "The Entity!!". Slip the name of the film into random conversations until it gets more famous than "Indiana Jones 5" (yep, they are making it).

• Option 3, Help with your valuable skills: Can you spare some time? Want to make a movie? Are you into graphic design and a million ideas came up just as you saw the (in your opinion terrible-looking) Internet poster? Do you do 3D? Or 4D? Does your sister has a friend whose father-in law knows someone who heard of someone who has a magazine? Are you an actor? Are you Steven Spielberg? Do you love Facebook, twitter or myspace and would like to do something more creative with it? Do you speak Klingon, Elvish or even some actual language other than English and would love to translate for a film project? All help is welcome, and of course will be credited accordingly once the film is finished.

This is all for now. For the moment, the project is avalable to follow through its Facebook group and an IndieGogo page. Website is also on the making. True, there isn't much information for now. But hey, I was writing this outrageously long post. Give me a break.

Now go, carry on with your life. But remember the importance of what you learnt here today. Humankind might simply perish if you overlook this survival possibility. Yes, you may decide to turn your back on it, and even NOT to watch The Entity!! but you would be foolishly making it easier for THEM to conquer the world.

Thanks in advance for your support! ;-)